Most studies of depression and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been drawn from clinical populations or from samples selected from the membershi

Purpose: This study sought to determine the prevalence and profile of grandparents providing extensive care for a grandchild (grandparents who provide 30+ hours per week or 90+ nights per year of child care, yet are not the primary caregiver of the grandchild). Design and methods: Secondary analysis of the 3,260 grandparent respondents in the 1992–94 National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH). Extensively caregiving grandparents were compared with custodial grandparents (those with primary responsibility for raising a grandchild for 6+ months), noncaregivers, occasional caregivers (<10 hours per week), and intermediate caregivers using chi-square tests, one-way analysis of variance tests, and logistic regression analyses. Results: Close to 7% of all grandparents provided extensive caregiving, as did 14.9% of those who had provided any grandchild care in the last month. Extensive caregivers most closely resembled custodial caregivers and had least in common with those grandparents who never provided child care. Implications: Areas for future research, policy, and practice are highlighted, including the potential impact of welfare reform legislation on extensively caregiving grandparents.

This study sought to determine whether the rates of basic activities of daily living (ADL) disabilities and functional limitations declined, remained the same, or increased between 2000 and 2005 when (a) only community-dwelling Americans aged 65 and older were examined and (b) when institutionalized older adults were included. Using data from the American Community Survey and the National Nursing Home Survey, we calculated annual prevalence rates of basic ADL disabilities and functional limitations and fitted regression lines to examine trends over time. The rates of basic ADL disabilities among community-dwelling adults aged 65 and older increased 9% between 2000 and 2005. When institutionalized elders were included, basic ADL disability rates were stable among men but increased among women. Functional limitation rates did not significantly change between 2000 and 2005. These findings suggest an end of the decline in disability rates among older Americans, which, if confirmed, could have important implications for health care.

BACKGROUND: Abuse in childhood is associated with many negative adult health outcomes. Only 1 study to date has found an association between childhood abuse and cancer. By using a regionally representative community sample, this preliminary study sought to investigate the association between childhood physical abuse and cancer while controlling for 3 clusters of risk factors: childhood stressors, adult health behaviors, and adult socioeconomic status.METHODS: Regional data from the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan were selected from the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey. Of the 13,092 respondents, 7.4% (n = 1025) reported that they had been physically abused as a child by someone close to them, and 5.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.9‐6.6) reported that they had been diagnosed with cancer by a health professional. The regional level response rate was 84%.RESULTS: Childhood physical abuse was associated with 49% higher odds (95% CI, 1.10‐2.01) of cancer when adjusting for age, sex, and race only. The odds ratio decreased only slightly to 47% higher odds (95% CI, 1.05‐1.99) when the model was adjusted for all 3 clusters of risk factors.CONCLUSIONS: A significant and highly stable association between childhood physical abuse and cancer was found even when adjusting for 3 clusters of risk factors. Further research focusing on the potential mechanisms linking childhood abuse and cancer is needed. Cancer 2009. © 2009 American Cancer Society.